1. Field of the Invention
The present invention is in the technical field of organization and storage systems. More particularly, the preferred embodiments of the present invention relate generally to organization and storage systems for clothing. More particularly, the preferred embodiments of the present invention relate generally to clothing organization and storage systems which allow for multiple items of clothing to be stored in a relatively compact area, enabling more efficient storage in limited spaces. Furthermore, the preferred embodiments of the present invention relate generally to organization and storage systems for clothing which allowing the multiple items of clothing to be easily sorted and displayed.
2. Description of the Related Art
Closets and wardrobes intended for storing clothing are often limited in the amount of available space. Large collections of clothing may fill such a clothing storage spaces to such an extent that easily searching through the collection becomes difficult. It is desirable to make the most efficient use of limited closet space by increasing the number of clothing items which may be stored in a given volume. Several inventions have attempted to increase the usefulness of limited closet space.
The broad concept of a device which hangs multiple garments is known. Some of these devices are related to storage and organization while others relate to displaying or transporting multiple garments. Some devices allow for several standard garment hangers to be suspended from a singular base which is capable of being independently suspended. Other devices have sets of integrated hanger appendages which may accommodate multiple items of clothing. A number of these devises allow for several clothes hangers to be chained together and suspended from a primary hanger. Additional devices consist of single-bodied hangers with multiple means of attaching items of clothing to the hanger such that several clothing items may be suspended from one hanger. Lastly, some devices consist of racks which are suspended from a closet bar which may store folded garments.
Devices which allow for several standard hangers to be suspended from a singular base, which is then independently suspended, allow for multiple items of clothing to be stored in a limited space but have other problems which arise from this design. Sorting through the items of clothing stored may be difficult because to view underlying clothing the standard hangers must be removed or shifted to the side risking upset of the hanging clothing. These devices also require standard hangers to directly suspend the items of clothing and are susceptible to any failures in these standard hangers. Additionally, some versions of these devices suspend standard hangers from cord or string which is more susceptible to breakage than metal or wood.
Devices which have sets of integrated hanger appendages may accommodate multiple items of clothing; however, known version of this design are problematic. Some of these devices have hanger appendages which interfere with each other when loaded with clothing. Others may become unbalanced while being loaded with clothing. Additionally, some hanger appendages are not well suited for suspending clothing and may require clips to fix the clothing in place.
Devises which allow for several clothes hangers to be chained together and suspended from a primary hanger enable the efficient storage of clothing, but may be ungainly is actual use. A chain is only as strong as its weakest link, and the failure of one hanger may cause the entire device to fail. Devices consisting of hanger chains are also not easy to move around since movement may disrupt the chain.
Devices which consist of single-bodied hangers with multiple means of attaching items of clothing to the hanger do allow for several clothing items to be suspended from one hanger; however, they are often limited in the number of items capable of being stored. Some of these devices may easily store different items of clothing on one hanger, such as a shirt and a pair of pants together on one hanger, but have difficulty in storing multiple items of the same type of clothing, such as several shirts. Some of these devices extend the dimensions of the single hanger to enable more items of clothing to be stored but this method sacrifices closet space to do so. Other versions allow for several items of clothing to be clipped together on one hanger, but these versions make searching through the items of clothing difficult.
Devices which consist of racks which are suspended from a closet bar which may store folded garments enable a large number of garments to be stored, but requires those garments to be folded while stored. Folded garments are susceptible to creasing while freely hanging garments are less likely to become creased. Additionally, stacks of folded garments are not clearly displayed and searching through a stack of folded clothing will likely upset the quality of folded garments.